Russia has the right to have relations with Taliban: Karzai

The former Afghan President Hamid Karzai has said that Russia has the right to have relations with the Taliban group as he has adopted a hard stance against the United States, specifically after the MOAB bombing o ISIS hideouts in Achin district of Nangarhar.

During an exclusive interview with the Voice of America’s Afghanistan service, Karzai insisted that the Taliban group has influence in almost 50 per cent of the Afghan soil.

Karzai further added that the world powers have no choice but to have relations with the Taliban group.

This comes as the former President vowed to step up efforts in a bid to oust the US military from the country following the massive airstrike in Achin Nangarhar against ISIS terrorists involving the non-nuclear GBU-43 bomb.

He slammed the government for allowing the US forces to carry out the strike and insisted that the move would be a national treason if the government had approved the use of the massive bomb.

In the meantime, former US Ambassador to Afghanistan Zalmay Khalilzad has said the criticism by the former Afghan President Hamid Karzai goes too far and will not serve the interests of Afghanistan.

On the other hand the Afghan government said the MOAB bombing on ISIS hideouts in Achin was conducted in close coordination with the Afghan government as the tribal elders in Nangarhar endorsed the use of the Mother of All Bombs on ISIS, calling for more such strikes in a bid to drive the ISIS terrorists out of the province and the country.